Both the US and China face daunting challenges in the areas of national security, long-term economic competitiveness, and global warming. Energy is at the center of all three, making it arguably the most important problem that we must solve in the coming decades. While there are no magic bullets, the answer clearly lies in increasing energy efficiency in the short term and developing sustainable, carbon-neutral energy sources over the longer term.

This conference is the first to bring together leading clean energy specialists from business, government, and academia from both the U.S. and China. The San Francisco Bay Area, Beijing, and Shanghai are rapidly becoming the global centers for clean energy technology promotion, development, and investment, and there are enormous gains to be achieved through enhanced collaboration between the regions. This conference, and a larger conference to be held in Beijing in November 2008, represent the beginning of an effort to encourage long-term collaboration between clean energy policymakers, researchers, businesspeople, and investors in the two countries.

Among the urgent questions to be addressed:

What are the dimensions of the energy challenge?

What has been achieved to date -- – in research, applications, investment, and policy?

What are the most vexing issues yet to be addressed?

What technical developments and business models are needed to foster improved energy efficiency and the adoption of renewable energy sources?

What can we expect to see over the next 5-10 years?

How are Bay Area and Chinese firms and individuals working together to create a clean energy future? How can we do better?

What cooperation between government policy organizations in the U.S. and China can best promote energy efficiency and renewable energy? How can such cooperation promote closer ties between the two countries?